{"321071":{"#nid":"321071","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Savannah Entrepreneurs Eye Greater Slice of Cake Icing Market","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWithout the help of a Georgia Institute of Technology programthat assists manufacturers,\u0026nbsp;Laura Darnall and Lois Judy might still be churning out fondant in a building in Ms. Darnall\u2019s Savannah backyard.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut today, Fondarific has a 10,000-square-foot factory and ships internationally. The company in 2011 sold $2.5 million worth of fondant, a creamy confection mostly used in decorating cake. The rollable icing covers the cake with a smooth layer, almost like wrapping paper, which allows for elaborate decorations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe really couldn\u2019t have done any of this without Georgia Tech,\u201d said Ms. Judy of the university\u2019s Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership\u0026nbsp;\u201cThey have a friendly attitude, really knew what we needed and how to help us. Their confidentiality was important. I was getting the quality help I needed by people who were impartial, had nothing to gain and wouldn\u2019t go in competition with me.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe story behind Fondarificreads like a classic American tale of entrepreneurship. Ms. Darnall and Ms. Judy struck up a friendship watching their children play soccer. Ms. Judy was a nurse; Ms. Darnall was kindergarten teacher who had developed an edible product she called \u201ccandy clay dough\u201d for her students to use as an art project.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cLaura was always into crafts and candy making and she went to the largest cake show, which is in Oklahoma. One of the judges, who was from the Food Network, told her to turn her product into fondant,\u201d Ms. Darnall recalled. \u201cWe weren\\\u0027t even sure what fondant was but we thought that we should take the advice.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith their children mostly grown, in 2008 the women started Candy Craft Creations, which does business as Fondarific, marketing the fondant at trade shows. The product was an immediate hit because \u201cmost of the fondants on the market tasted bad and cracked,\u201d said Ms. Judy.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOur product didn\u2019t crack and it tasted great. That\u2019s what separates us from the competition. We have 16 products and our fruit flavor fondants taste like Skittles and Starburst, which is great for the cupcake industry and children\u2019s parties,\u201d she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe two friends made the fondant in a small building in Ms. Darnall\u2019s backyard and handled all aspects of the growing business. A month after opening, they sold 3,000 pounds of fondant. When sales hit $250,000 they added employees and moved into a 1,500-square-foot space, then doubled it. But even with 3,000 square feet the design wasn\u2019t efficient.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe women knew they needed professional assistance and turned the the Small Business Development Center, who referred them to GaMEP\u2019s Coastal Region, which stepped up to help the company\\\u0027s production flow, select the right equipment and provide market research and a plan for growth. GaMEP is a program of Georgia Tech\u2019s Enterprise Innovation Institute and has offices in nine regions across the state.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDanny Duggar, a project manager with GaMEP\u2019s Lean Services Group, worked on the new facility. He helped design the building\u2019s layout and automate its processes, which reduced labor costs by 18 percent.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey also worked with Matthew W.Oxley III, GaMEP\u2019s strategic business manager, who tackled growing their marketing, both nationally and internationally. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI helped them with their marketing strategy and make sure their strategy worked from a financial standpoint,\u201d said Mr. Oxley, who also helped mentor the women and assisted them in interviewing key sales players. \u201cI\u2019ve owned about 12 businesses and I know what they\u2019re going through and can see where their strengths are and help fill in their weaknesses. I essentially teach entrepreneurship 101.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow Fondarific\u2019s main challenge is getting a greater \u201cslice of the marketplace,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re going up against big companies, but I have no doubt they can do it.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFondant is a $100 million market, and Fondarific\u2019s products are sold as a private label product in Michael\u2019s craft stores. It recently landed a test contract at Walmart for 500 stores to sell the fondant under the Fondarific name, which is also available in other craft stores, baking stores and online.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFondarific is also dipping into the international market and is sold in Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Guatemala and the United Kingdom.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI think the sky is the limit internationally but I see our major growth right now in this country,\u201d Ms. Judy said. \u201cPlus, when you export you have to deal with all these rules, regulations, labeling, exporting issues. Some countries have a tax on sugar so pricing is a little touchy. It\u2019s not hard; it\u2019s just tedious. Georgia Tech helped us on that too.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFondarific was featured at the Georgia Department of Economic Development\u2019s Go Global\u201d reception in February, where it won a GLOBE award for expanding into a new market overseas. In 2012, the duo were honored as top businesspeople by the U.S. Small Business Administration.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFresh with a $2.5 million loan from a local bank, the Fondarific team is looking to expand. They are also going back to GaMEP for more advice.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI couldn\u2019t afford to get such expertise elsewhere. As a small business you have to watch every penny and we honestly would be where we are with Georgia Tech and we\u2019ll continue working with them.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELearn more about Georgia Tech\\\u0027s Manufacturing Extension Partership at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.globalatlanta.com\/%22http:\/\/gamep.org\/\/%22\u0022\u003Ewww.gamep.org\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWithout the help of a Georgia Institute of Technology program that assists manufacturers,\u0026nbsp;Laura Darnall and Lois Judy might still be churning out fondant in a building in Ms. Darnall\u2019s Savannah backyard.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut today, Fondarific has a 10,000-square-foot factory and ships internationally. The company in 2011 sold $2.5 million worth of fondant, a creamy confection mostly used in decorating cake. The rollable icing covers the cake with a smooth layer, almost like wrapping paper, which allows for elaborate decorations.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech program helps small firm streamline fondant production"}],"uid":"28069","created_gmt":"2014-09-03 13:56:40","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:59","author":"Laura Day","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-09-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-09-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"321081":{"id":"321081","type":"image","title":"Fondant","body":null,"created":"1449245011","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:03:31","changed":"1475895032","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:32","alt":"Fondant","file":{"fid":"200099","name":"fondant.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fondant_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/fondant_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":39372,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/fondant_0.jpg?itok=BjljFLQa"}}},"media_ids":["321081"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.globalatlanta.com\/article\/27091\/savannah-entrepreneurs-eye-greater-slice-of-cake-icing-market\/page2\/#largeBanner","title":"Global Atlanta"}],"groups":[{"id":"155831","name":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI)"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"171357","name":"small business; Manufacturing Extension Partnership; Manufacturing; Economic Development; GaMEP"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor more information about manufacturing innovation visit the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute website at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gamep.org\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ewww.manufacturing.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFor more information on the Georgia\u0027s Manufacturing Extension Partnership visit their website at \u003Ca href=\u0022gamep.org\u0022\u003Ewww.gamep.org\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}